JanesPrize (20 page)

“I love you, Jane Chartraine.”

“I love you too.”

How could anyone be so happy without their
heart bursting?

His lips fastened once more to hers and he
loosened her robe, pushing it off her shoulders. It slid to the floor. His
hands knew her so well, knew every curve and secret place of her body. Heat and
moisture pooled between her legs.

He turned to click off a lamp, leaving only
one small light burning. The sun was almost set and little light penetrated
into the reaches of the room. She could make out the pale blur of his features
and the long lines on his body.

She touched her side where the skin burned
with an inner flame.

“Do it here. Right now.”

“On the floor?”

“Wherever.”

“God, you make me hot, woman. Hot and
wild.” He released her and stepped away, unzipping his jeans. His eyes darkened
like the storm clouds outside. “But I’m going to need a bed for what I’m going
to do to you.”

She sank to her knees as he kicked off his
shorts and unbuttoned his shirt.

“Hurry,” she whispered and lay on her back,
legs spread. His cock was thick and long. She ached to feel him inside her.

Naked, he followed her to the floor. She
knew she would come in an instant when he fucked her.

He knelt astride her, that delicious cock
just inches from her eager mouth. He held her face between his hands, stroking
her lower lip with a gentle thumb, his eyes boring into her, challenging her.
“I need time for this,” he said. “No quickies, right?”

Her heart was beating too furiously to
speak. With an effort of will she drew in her breath and exhaled on the one
word. “Right.”

He leaned over her and touched his lips to
hers, his mouth soft yet demanding. They moved closer and the kiss went deep,
dizzying in its effect. She sank below the pleasure like a drowning woman, lost
and moaning.

In her subconscious she was aware of his
hands under her body and instinctively she reached for him. “Just wait a
moment, beautiful lady,” he whispered.

Suddenly his hands were hard and sure on
her waist and lifted her onto the bed.

She threaded her fingers through his hair
and pulled him down closer. Their lips clung together for an eternity until he
broke the kiss. Supporting himself on his hands, he gazed down at her.

“I want to see you.” Her robe lay spread
open and she watched him feast his eyes. She loved him looking at her
nakedness, knowing what her body aroused in him, anticipating what that clever
mouth and supple hands would do to her.

His eyes still locked on hers, he sank to
his elbows and at last his cock was in reach. She raised one hand and stroked
it almost tentatively. She felt him harden even more under her fingers.

He stroked her breasts, curling his fingers
over each one in turn and tickling the hardened nipple. Her hips rose in an
ancient rhythm, begging for completion, but he ignored her silent pleading. She
moaned as she felt her flesh swell and throb between her legs.

“More,” she whispered.

He rolled one nipple between two fingers.
“More of what?” he teased. “I suppose I could give you just a little more.”

He cupped one breast and brought it to his
lips and tongue. He licked and sipped at it as if he were tasting a fine wine.

“Maybe you should taste me,” he murmured.
He swung his legs around and shifted his position to lean over her, facing her
feet, bringing the wet tip of his cock to her mouth. With a sigh of pleasure
she parted her lips and let him slip inside her warm wetness. She fitted him
inside her and teased the flaring tip with her tongue, tasting the pearly
saltiness that seeped from him. She drew her lips in tighter and sucked,
pulling him deeper to her throat.

His hand floated down her side and
fluttered over the curls at her thighs. She arched, desperate for more, every
nerve quivering. She felt his fingers dive into her wetness, gliding up, down
and around, touching her throbbing clit and caressing her aching opening.

Her mouth full of his pulsating flesh, she
could only moan in her throat as she longed to beg him to enter her.

At last his probing fingers slid into her
and she writhed in gratitude and pleasure. Thrills vibrated all through her and
her toes curled. She could feel the creamy moisture pouring from her. Her
stomach muscles jerked as he pinched and caressed the soft flesh between her
legs. At last he removed his fingers from her hot mound and she groaned in
protest.

He pushed back a little and she took him
more firmly in her mouth. Her head was empty of all thoughts save the one
crying out for release. She knew she would have done anything, promised
anything if only he would drill her, nailing her to the bed.

“Not yet,” he said, reading her mind. “Just
one more pleasure for us both.” He sank his face down between her thighs and
she lifted her legs, locking her ankles behind his neck, holding him tight to
her.

The tremors ran through her in time with
his probing tongue, like an unending wave of tiny orgasms. Her hands fluttered
onto his strong back, feeling the muscles, smoothing his warm skin. Her whole
body floated in a delicious stupor in which she was conscious of every touch to
her sensitive body, but her mind seemingly incapable of functioning.

Her mind and her body were totally under
his control. She had been his teacher and his mentor ever since he came back
from the world of ghosts. Because she knew what to do she had taken charge and
found what he needed. But their lovemaking had always been his domain. He had
called the shots every time, making her want him more as the days went by. But
he had never dominated her or forced her. She had given willingly what he
asked.

Somehow she found the willpower to release
him from her mouth. He groaned and lifted his head. Suddenly she wanted him
back where he had been, but more than that she wanted to feel the length of his
body locked against hers as he took her completely. Yet again he seemed to know
instinctively what she wanted. In a supple movement he twisted around until he
lay alongside her.

“You’re trembling,” he said. He caressed
her belly and her nerves jumped obediently. He pressed his flat palm to her
abdomen.

“That’s where it aches,” she said. “Deep
inside.”

“Only one remedy that I know of.”

He stretched out beside her and she rolled
into his arms. She felt his throbbing erection against her thigh. Soon she
would feel that hardened shaft inside her.

“Are you ready for me?”

“You know I am.”

He held himself over her as he had done
before while she lay open and flowing with fragrant juices. She lifted her
hips, touching her nakedness to his shaft. Another white-hot tremor snaked
through her from the spot where their flesh joined.

He nodded as if in agreement with her
unspoken plea and lowered himself to her. He found her opening, easing himself
inside her. For a long moment he held himself over her, watching her, pinning
her with his penis. Her muscles tightened around him and fire blazed inside
her.

She gasped. “Now!”

In one quick movement he thrust deeper
inside her and collapsed onto her. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to
the bliss of the moment. He was hard and hot and perfect in every way.

He pounded into her and she opened her
throat to release the cries that spilled from her.

In seconds the orgasm seized her. The
contractions squeezed his cock as they swept through her. She wrapped her legs
around him, holding him tight as he cried out and came hard.

When it was over and they had caught their
breath, Pierce swept her hair from her face and looked into her eyes.

“My dearest treasure,” he said.

“My prize beyond price.”

Epilogue

Snow lay thick outside on the trees and the
bushes, reflecting the Christmas lights, turning the scene into a fairyland.
Jane looked out at the peaceful scene from the tower room of the mansion. The
day had been crazy and it was good to savor peace and quiet.

So at the end of her wedding day, here she
was in Pierce’s favorite room in the mansion, married, satisfied and stark
naked but for an embroidered Chinese wrap in deep jade green. The mansion had
been partially renovated but there was still work to do. It was a beautiful
house and she loved it as much as Pierce did. She stretched a hand and stroked
the silky finish of the windowsill. It was smooth and warm with hardness
beneath like a man’s muscle.

It had taken a while before Selma convinced
her the ghosts were all gone and there was no fear of any returning, but at
last she had accepted it all like a strange and distant family story to be
retold and refurbished with each generation.

This day her mother’s house had been in
total turmoil from the moment the sun rose. Jane, in her white velvet gown,
watched the activity swirl around her like eddies in a turbulent sea. Her
mother ran by every few minutes, already dressed in her mother of the bride
outfit and worried about caterers, flowers, programs and ten thousand other
things.

“Mother,” Jane said firmly, “it’s far too
late to worry about anything now. If it goes wrong it goes wrong.” She caught
Elaine’s arm as she whisked by. “Slow down, Mom. Enjoy the moment.”

“Oh, darling.” Elaine blinked back tears.
“I thought this day would never come!”

Jane refrained from a sarcastic “thank you”
but in truth she had wondered herself if she would ever find the man she
dreamed of. She smiled.

“Where’s Jim?” she asked.

“Oh, he’s doing some last minute thing with
the car people.”

“Good.” James had soon become Jim and had
proved to be invaluable over the last months, providing a steadying arm for her
mother. It had been good to see her mom blossom.

Maybe there would be another wedding soon.
She kissed her mother on the cheek.

“Are you sure, dear?” Elaine asked.

“Absolutely sure.”

Immediately after the end of the Newland
assignment she had admitted to herself that there was no doubt in her mind that
she wanted to be with Pierce for the rest of her life. It had just taken a
little effort to make sure it could be so.

He never lost his addiction to horror
movies and they’d seen every blood-spattered offering as it appeared on the
screens of TV or theater. He took her for picnics and to good restaurants. In
so doing he completely captivated Elaine and all the matrons of her
acquaintance.

The vibrator had gone in the garbage before
the end of July.

They had managed to wait a few weeks before
venturing back into the Newland Mansion. There was absolutely no trace of Maria
or Stan or of anything that could link Pierce to the murder that had happened
so long ago.

In the turret room the reflection of the
flames from the blazing fire shimmered and danced in the glass against the
blackness of the night. Every surface in the room bore a lighted candle,
shedding an amber glow over everything. The bed was made with fresh white
linens and deep pillows.

She sighed in anticipation. She would
always have a soft spot for their little apartment in town and the sturdy bed
that had served them well but this would be different.

Pierce had refused to bring her to this bed
until after the wedding and it would be new, sacred to their love.

She turned with a smile at a sound from the
doorway.

Pierce appeared in a matching robe of
crimson silk. He carried a tray with a bottle and two fluted glasses. Setting
the tray on the dresser between two golden candles, he held out his hand.

“May I take you to our bed?”

She placed the tips of her fingers in his
and allowed him to lead her. He stopped her beside the bed and untied the sash
of her robe, then pushed the rippling silk from her shoulders. The robe
slithered to the floor as it had done so many times before and would do again.

Her nipples puckered and she felt the sharp
dart between her legs as if this were to be her very first time with him. She
let him admire her and he ran the back of his hand from her breast down to her
mound, smiling as she quivered.

“God, you’re beautiful.” He reached out to
skim the underside of one breast and the heat sizzled right to the precious
spot between her legs. “Do you care for me?” he whispered.

“You know I do. I care for you more than I
ever dreamed possible. I married you.”

“I love you, plain Jane. I loved you the
moment I saw you when you tackled my stepmother.”

He shed his own robe and her breath caught
in her throat. The lights played over his muscles, deepening the shadows,
highlighting the sensuous curves. His cock stood out strong and ready.

“Lie down for me.”

She sank back. The bed was high and wide,
scented with sweet lavender.

“How would you like it? What’s your
favorite?”

She sighed. “I love every position we’ve
tried. Everything you’ve ever done to me. I love riding you and you riding me.”

She placed her hands on his shoulders and
drew him down toward her. His skin was like satin beneath her fingers. “But I
think I like it best…”

“How?”

Without answering, she pulled him closer
until he stretched out over her and she began to feel his weight.

She kissed him slowly, lingering, taking
her time, for they had their whole lives in front of them. Running her tongue
around the edge of his lips, she made him open them enough for her to nip his
tongue between her teeth and draw it into her own mouth. She sucked on it
gently and heard an answering moan from deep in his throat. At last she
released him and looked at him, stroking her palms down his spine, cupping his
buttocks in both hands and pulling him into her smooth wetness.

“I think I like it best when I can look
into your eyes, watch your face and you can watch mine as you make love to me,
so slowly, so long.”

She dug her fingers into him and arched
into his thrusts. She felt his whole body tensing, building up for the final
moment when he would go over the precipice and she would go with him.

“Love me, Jane,” he whispered.

“Always. Forever.”

The End